Walter Richard Cassels (4 September 1826 – 10 June 1907) was an English poet and theological critic best known as the author of ''Supernatural Religion'' (1874).
Early life
Cassels was born in London, the son of a British consular official. In the 1850s, he published two volumes of poetry, and spent three years in Italy, where he befriended the poets
Robert
The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of '' Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory, honou ...
and
Elizabeth Browning
Elizabeth Barrett Browning (née Moulton-Barrett; 6 March 1806 – 29 June 1861) was an English poet of the Victorian era, popular in Britain and the United States during her lifetime.
Born in County Durham, the eldest of 12 children, Elizabet ...
.
He later became a partner with two of his brothers in the firm of Peel, Cassels & Co. in
Bombay
Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...
, India. In 1862, he published a monograph on the Bombay cotton industry. After serving on the
Legislative Council of Bombay
Bombay Legislative Council was the legislature of the Bombay Province and later the upper house of the bicameral legislature of Bombay Province in British India and the Indian state of Bombay.
History
The Indian Councils Act 1861 set up the Bom ...
from 1863 to 1865, Cassels returned to England.
''Supernatural Religion''
In 1874, Cassels published an anonymous two-volume work entitled ''Supernatural Religion: An Inquiry into the Reality of Divine Revelation'', in which he challenged the credibility of
miracle
A miracle is an event that is inexplicable by natural or scientific lawsOne dictionary define"Miracle"as: "A surprising and welcome event that is not explicable by natural or scientific laws and is therefore considered to be the work of a divin ...
s and the validity of the
New Testament
The New Testament grc, Ἡ Καινὴ Διαθήκη, transl. ; la, Novum Testamentum. (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus, as well as events in first-century Christ ...
. The work at once attracted attention, and resulted in much speculation about the identity of the anonymous author. Many books and articles were written in response to the criticism of Christianity made in ''Supernatural Religion''. The most famous of these rebuttals is a series of essays by Bishop , which were subsequently collected and published as a book. In 1877, a third volume was added to ''Supernatural Religion'', and a fully revised edition was published in 1879. A series of anonymous replies to Bishop Lightfoot and other critics appeared in magazine articles and as footnotes or prefaces to reprints of ''Supernatural Religion''. These replies were also compiled as a book in 1889. Abridged popular editions of ''Supernatural Religion'' in a single volume were published in 1902 and 1905.
[ ]
Later life
News of Cassels' authorship of ''Supernatural Religion'' began to leak out in 1895, after he published a series of signed articles on theology. However, Cassels never publicly acknowledged his authorship of ''Supernatural Religion''. Little is known about his private life, or of how he acquired his extensive knowledge of
early Christianity
Early Christianity (up to the First Council of Nicaea in 325) spread from the Levant, across the Roman Empire, and beyond. Originally, this progression was closely connected to already established Jewish centers in the Holy Land and the Jewish ...
. It is known that he collected art and was a Fellow of the
Royal Photographic Society
The Royal Photographic Society of Great Britain, commonly known as the Royal Photographic Society (RPS), is one of the world's oldest photographic societies. It was founded in London, England, in 1853 as the Photographic Society of London with ...
.
He never married and died in London on 10 June 1907.
Works
*
Eidolon, or the Course of a Soul and other poems''. William Pickering: London, 1850.
*
Poems'. Smith, Elder & Co.: London, 1856.
*
Cotton: An Account of its Culture in the Bombay Presidency'. 1862.
Published anonymously
* ''Supernatural Religion: An Inquiry into the Reality of Divine Revelation.''
Longmans & Co.: London, 1874 (Volumes I and II). Six editions, 1874-1876. Volume III, 1877.**Complete Edition (3 vols), 1879.
*''A Reply to Dr. Lightfoot's Essays''. Longmans & Co.: London, 1889.
*
The Gospel according to Peter: A Study'. Longmans & Co.: London, 1894.
References
Bibliography
*
*
Tracks of a Rolling Stone' (1905), Henry J. Coke.
"Matthew Arnold and 'The Author of Supernatural Religion': The Background to God and the Bible" by Jerold J. Savory. ''
SEL: Studies in English Literature 1500–1900'', Autumn 1976 (Vol 16 no 4), pp. 677–91.
"Male Diagnosis of the Female Pen in Late Victorian Britain: Private Assessments of Supernatural Religion" by Alan H. Cadwallader. ''
Journal of Anglican Studies
The ''Journal of Anglican Studies'' is a biannual peer-reviewed academic journal focusing on the history, theology and practice of Anglicanism. It was established in Australia in 2003, and was initially published by Continuum Publishers. It is now ...
'', Vol. 5, No. 1, pp. 69–88 (2007).
External links
Supernatural Religion: An Inquiry into the Reality of Divine Revelation(online text of 1902 reprint)
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Cassels, Walter Richard
1826 births
1907 deaths
19th-century English theologians
British biblical scholars
Criticism of the Bible
Fellows of the Royal Photographic Society
Members of the Bombay Legislative Council
Writers from London